Jimenez shines, Rockies use big inning to top Mets

DENVER (Ticker) -- Ubaldo Jimenez earned a temporary reprieve
from a season's worth of struggles on the mound - and at the
plate.

Jimenez halted a 13-start winless streak by outpitching his idol
and Garrett Atkins' leadoff home run sparked a six-run fifth as
the Colorado Rockies cruised to a 7-1 victory over the New York
Mets on Saturday.

Jimenez (2-7) had gone winless since April 8 despite allowing
three runs or less in 10 of the 13 starts. The 24-year-old
allowed just two hits in a career-high eight innings. The
righthander struck out two and walked four, while throwing 64 of
110 pitches for strikes.

"The numbers aren't indicative of how he's done," Rockies
manager Clint Hurdle said. "He's been knocking the bottom out
of that ERA for the past four or five starts."

Jimenez's first win in over a two months came at the expense of
his boyhood idol Pedro Martinez.

"It was great because Pedro's been my hero since I was little,"
said Jimenez, who indicated that command of his upper-90 mph
fastball was the key. "It was awesome."

As trying as his winless streak was, Jimenez's performance at
the plate had been more abysmal. He entered the game 0-for-28
but went 2-for-3 and scored a run during a decisive frame in
which the Rockies sent nine men to the plate against Martinez
(2-1).

Jimenez allowed a leadoff triple to Jose Reyes to begin the
game, and Reyes quickly scored on a sacrifice fly by Luis
Castillo. But that was the only hit until an eighth-inning
single by Damion Easley for the Mets, who fell to 2-2 under
interim skipper Jerry Manuel.

"It was a little tough to see there, early, then (Jimenez)
started to get confidence in all of his pitches," Manuel said.
"Then, we started to put balls in play that were his pitches."

Hurdle considered sending Jimenez out for the ninth but didn't
push the issue.

"We had tossed that idea around, but how many times has he
pitched eight innings this year? Zero," Hurdle said. "So, this
was a big step for him."

Martinez showed flashes of the form that made him one of the
best pitchers in baseball for years, as he limited the Rockies
to two singles through four frames. However, two pitches into
the fifth, the Mets' 1-0 lead had evaporated.

"Man, he was cruising," Manuel said. "I thought he was the best
we had seen him at this point. He's just at that point of his
career where a little mistake here, a little mistake there, it
can cost him. But I feel very good about the stuff that he
had."

Atkins and Brad Hawpe led off the fifth with successive
first-pitch home runs, and the Rockies chased Martinez when
seven of the first eight hitters reached base safely.

Martinez was yanked after Matt Holliday's two-run single to
center that made it 6-1. He allowed six runs and nine hits in 4
1/3 innings while striking out five and walking one.

Rockies second baseman Jeff Baker clubbed an RBI double off the
right-field wall in the inning, narrowly missing a chance to
become the third player in the Rockies' annals to homer in five
consecutive games. Baker finished 2-for-4 and is 21-for-47
since May 29, vaulting his average from .188 to .296.

"You never try to hit a home run, you never try to guide the
ball or anything like that," Baker said. "You just try to have
a quality at-bat. Pedro had great stuff. He's one of the best
pitchers of all-time, and you just try to find a pitch to hit.
He doesn't give you very many."

Colorado leadoff man Willy Taveras set a personal milestone with
his career-best 35th stolen base, and Colorado shortstop Troy
Tulowitzki registered his first two hits since coming off the
disabled list Friday. Tulowitzki had been out of action since
April 29 because of a tear in his left quadriceps.

The Mets loaded the bases in the ninth against Rockies reliever
Luis Vizcaino but couldn't push across a run.

The teams will meet Sunday in the rubber match of the three-game
series, as the Mets will be aiming to prevent the Rockies from
claiming their sixth consecutive series.